


Gold Filigree and Broken Promises

by ROSIERS



Series: Unfinished but WILL finish [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Corrupt Ministry, Dolores Umbridge is Her Own Warning, Drug Addiction, F/M, Forced Marriage, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Marriage Law Challenge, POV Multiple, Panic Attacks, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Pureblood Society (Harry Potter), Self-Hatred, Slut Shaming, dark themes, to one character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 05:23:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16633775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ROSIERS/pseuds/ROSIERS
Summary: The war was over. The good guys won, a better world was guaranteed to those of whom fought and survived - only a corrupt Ministry regains control over Britain and promises were broken.---Hermione Granger did not fight for this world.She fought for equality, for peace, not for a return to the traditionalist society that degraded her very being.She would keep fighting for what she believed in, even if it meant the death of her.---Aleka Apostolou took advantage of the sudden change in dynamics throughout Britain, becoming one of Europe's most elite high society profiles.Some thought her a coward, a traitor, but she would do what she must in order to survive.---Ginny Weasley was tired - tired of fighting, tired of losing.She was done with this patriarchal society, she wanted out and now, there was utterly nothing she could do about it.---Tricked into a blood oath, a portion of the remaining Wizarding population of Britain is forced into randomly picked arranged marriages with every couple expected to provide a minimum of five children - unless, that is, they want to lose their magic.





	Gold Filigree and Broken Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reason why I'm posting so many stories right now is because they're all hitting their draft time limit and I don't want to lose them.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> ROSIERS

_ **PROLOGUE** _

* * *

_**HERMIONE GRANGER** _

_**"beautiful but brash"** _

_[Emma Watson]_

**_"She will survive."_ **

_Human, Christina Perri_

_Castle, Halsey_

_Fight Song, Rachel Platten_

_Little Lion Man, Mumford & Sons_

_Fighter, Christina_ _Aguilera_

_Survivor, 2WEI_

_Scars To Your Beautiful, Alessia Cara_

_Woman, Kesha_

_I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor_

_Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys_

* * *

**_ALEKA APOSTOLOU_ **

**_"pretty but poisonous"_ **

_[Romee Strijd]_

_**"Heartless, they call her. Heartless, she shall be."** _

_idontwannabeyouanymore, Billie Eilish_

_Homewrecker, Marina and the Diamonds_

_Elastic Heart, Sia_

_National Anthem, Lana Del Rey_

  _Mrs. Potato Head, Melanie Martinez_

_Teen Idle, Marina and the Diamonds_

_Carmen, Lana Del Rey_

_Chandelier, Sia_

_Beauty Queen, Foxes_

_I Am Not A Robot, Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

_**GINNY WEASLEY** _

_**"attractive but aggressive"** _

_[Luca Hollestelle]_

_**“She was born to do this. She will fight."**_

_The Mother We Share, Chvrches_

_Heaven Knows, The Pretty Reckless_

_Youth Knows No Pain, Lykke Li_

_Gasoline, Halsey_

_Fire N Gold, Bea Miller_

_Girls, Marina and the Diamonds_

_Help, I'm Alive, Metric_

_Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You), Kelly Clarkson_

_Last Damn Night, Elle King_

_Wake Me Up, Avicii_

* * *

_**PROLOGUE** _

* * *

Hermione Granger stood within the massive ballroom, hesitant. The letter she had received from the Ministry had been aloof, brief,  _ominous_ and Hermione wasn't sure what it meant for her. She glanced back down at the letter, which she held in her right hand, with wary eyes.

_**Dear Miss Hermione Granger,** _

**_You are hereby invited to the upcoming ball hosted by the Ministry on September 21st which begins at seven o'clock pm on the dot._ **

**_Attendance is mandatory._ **

**_Thank you,_ **

**_Minister Elias Morrington_ **

**_Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge_ **

Her eyes drifted to the front of the room where a handsome, tall man with blonde hair was smiling as he greeted guests - a stark contrast to the plump  _toad_ at his side. How Umbridge had managed to weasel her way back into the Ministry was a mystery to Hermione but she never hated the woman more than she did now, as Hermione watched the woman stand by the Minister's side greeting people as if she weren't a crazy  _bitch_.

Her eyes drifted around the area. There were people of all ages attending the ball, the majority of attendees seemed to be concentrated within her own age group or a little younger or older, which was odd. She expected more older people to attend, especially considering the recent changes in the Ministry.

Her mind darkened at the thought. Elias Morrington was a wizard from a young, but very wealthy, line of purebloods. He was charismatic, electric, everywhere he went people's wide, adoring eyes would follow. He promised to make Magical Britain great again and with the chaos left behind by the Second Wizarding War, people were quick to fall under the thrall of the charming man.

The changes had been minimal, at first, for example, he gave some power back to purebloods that hadn't been convicted - which, while very few, were prominent - and he announced the return of the Ministry held balls and events for the elite.

Then he reinstated the House of Lords, which though it now had far less supremacist purebloods than prior to the war, was still a shocking act, in Hermione's mind. The House of Lords had, prior to the wars, been the marking point of pureblood supremacy, due to the sway it held over the Ministry and the Wizengamot, and it's power had been declining before Morrington's actions.

Morrington was somewhat of a conundrum, Hermione had realized. He was harsh,  _very harsh_ , when it came to the imprisonment of Death Eaters, suspected Death Eaters, and sympathizers. Many of Hermione's Slytherin classmates - Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass, for example - had been thrown into Azkaban at the end of the war for being directly related to Death Eaters.

Though both Harry and Hermione argued in defense for the lot of them, their words -  _the saviors of the Wizarding World! -_ meant nothing and the Slytherins, Marked or not, were hauled off to the middle of the North Sea.

The only one that Harry had managed to get off was Narcissa Malfoy, who saved his life and, by proxy, the Wizarding World. 

After the high profile trials of the dark, everything seemed to change. Hermione, Ron, Harry, they all seemed to drift into the background. Hermione didn't mean to sound conceited or anything, but she had expected the spotlight to be more on the three of them but rather everything was focused on Elias Morrington, the youngest Minister of Magic to date. It was a relief, at first, she could cope with her trauma on her own but then it started becoming a little alarming as bills started passing that certainly shouldn't be in the current political climate and there was utterly nothing she could do.

Harry certainly still had numerous eyes on him, watching his every move, but he didn't hold nearly as much sway within the government as he should have, as a war hero, as the defeater of the Dark Lord. He could have, perhaps, but he didn't want it. He was happy to fall back into an easy life with the Weasleys and his on and off again relationship with Ginny.

Now, don't get her wrong, there were certainly people who thrived under the return to traditionalist society, l-

"Minister Morrington, you look dashing, as per the usual," a smooth, feminine voice cut through her thoughts. The voice was high-pitched, but pleasantly so, with a pretty but, unfortunately, very familiar accent.

Morrington laughed brightly, a stunning smile overcoming his face, "Miss Aleka Apostolou," he greeted warmly, "I could very well say the same to you."

Hermione stiffened as her eyes fell upon the beautiful blonde that pressed her lips to Morrington's cheek in a casual hello.

Aleka Apostolou was a Greek pureblood witch, a Gryffindor that had been in Hermione's year. Having shared a dorm with the girl for seven years, she knew that under that pretty face laid an ugly soul. She had been friends with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, two other wealthy pureblood girls - Hermione didn't actually know if they were friends or not, Parvati and Lavender had always seemed unhealthily obsessed with the girl, who seemed to brush them off most of the time.

Aleka Apostolou thrived under the new regime. She easily swept her way to the top of the social hierarchy with pretty smiles and honey-toned words becoming Europe's most favored of the new elite high society, a influential socialite that covered more than one of the recent Witch Weekly magazines and held more sway over the European governments than should be allowed.

"I have to wonder, Minister Morrington, why attendance for this ball was mandatory? Of course, I would have come either way but the was you worded the letter was rather... disconcerting, to say the least," Aleka said, amicably but her pretty blue eyes were shrewd as she carefully watched the Minister, who simply gave her a charming smile.

"I assure you, your questions will be answered soon, Miss Apostolou," he said and began walking with a swift goodbye. Aleka's eyes narrowed as Umbridge lingered near her.

"Miss Apostolou-" Umbridge began but Aleka just gave her a disgusted look before walking off. Hermione nearly snorted,  _at least some things don't change._

"Hermione," someone said from behind her, and Hermione nearly jumped. She had been so focused on Aleka that she hadn't even realized Ginny had come up behind her. The girl grinned, "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, you look great."

Hermione smiled as Ginny hugged her tightly. The two girls had become very close post-war, leaning on each other to deal with the repercussions that the war had on their mentalities.

"So do you," Hermione said, honestly.

"Come on, let's go sit. Seats are assigned, you're with us," Ginny said, looping her arm in Hermione's and walking over to the circular table across the room where Harry and Ron were sitting.

"Who else is sitting with us?" Hermione asked, curiously, noting that there were eight seats at the table and only two were occupied.

"Hannah, Luna, Neville and Aleka," Ginny said and Hermione blinked.

"Why  _Aleka?_ " she asked and Ginny just shrugged in response.

Hermione frowned as she approached the table, exchanging brief greetings with Harry and Ron, who she had just seen yesterday, but her attention was on Aleka, who was walking over to the table. With eyes firmly planted on Hermione, Aleka gave Hermione a brief smile, "Hermione, it's been a while," she said pleasantly and Hermione nodded stiffly.

Andromeda had been the first to recognize the return to traditionalist society and made it her job to educate Hermione and Ginny on the intricacies of the pureblood world, but more specifically the women within it who were far more threatening than their masculine counterparts. Hermione thought to the likes of Naricssa Malfoy, who had brought the downfall of the Dark Lord, during those lessons.

Hermione knew that glittering make-up was war paint, sparkling jewels were armor and finely-honed words were the deadliest of weapons. Hermione couldn't forget Andromeda's warning about the girls with pretty smiles and knives for teeth and how they were the most dangerous ones of all - she was sitting right in front of another one, after all.

"Attention please," Hermione's gaze was pulled from Aleka once again as the Minister spoke, a smile on his face. "I understand that many of you got letters that invited you to the ball, despite how foreboding they may have sounded. Unfortunately, I do have bad news to share. The British Wizarding Population is dying."

Whispers broke out at his words, Hermione's table stayed quiet. Harry and Ron shared a long look, while Hermione's gaze stayed pointedly on the Minister.  _What was this leading to? What was about to happen?_

"We have, roughly, three generations left in us due to the strain of three back-to-back wars, even less, if we factor in those that are possibly unable to bear children due to war injuries. We have reached a terrible, but necessary, decision."

The room was silent as he spoke.

"The Ministry of Magic will be enforcing a Marriage Decree upon all of those within the room at this time as a means to not only boost our population, but our morale as a nation. We thank you for your sacrifice." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!! If you would like to criticize my work, be my guest, but be constructive. I don't take kindly to people straight up bashing my work.
> 
> Also, please take care to know what you're talking about before you comment. I don't mind questions about my work at all, but if you're questioning and assuming something even though it's blatantly stated in the work, and then you proceed on being rude about it despite it being because you've misread something, I won't be pleased - this has happened on my other stories. !!!!!
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> ROSIERS


End file.
